Articles by Grist staff

Japan leads G8 in 2008, will focus on climate change

A new year means a new country takes over leadership of the Group of Eight rich nations, and in 2008 it’s Japan. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has promised to make climate change a top priority, proposing a goal for G8 countries to cut emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. And while that […]

New-Year-heralding ball will be energy-efficient

As promised, the ball that will drop in Times Square tonight to herald the new year will be dazzling both in its brightness and its energy efficiency. On the 100th anniversary of the tradition, the 1,415-pound ball with a circumference of some 6 feet will glow with more than 9,500 energy-efficient LED lights. Its descent […]

United Nations declares 2008 International Year of Planet Earth

When the clock strikes midnight tonight and you kiss your nearest partygoer in drunken revelry, the world will be entering the United Nations-declared official International Year of Planet Earth. (The IYoPE technically lasts from January 2007 to December 2009, which makes it a three-year-long International Year, but why quibble?) In 2008, the U.N. will also […]

Beijing struggles to clear air in time for Olympics

The good news: Beijing narrowly achieved its air-pollution goal of 245 “blue sky days” in 2007. The bad news: Skepticism abounds that the city will offer wholly breathable air when it hosts the upcoming Summer Olympics. “We’re definitely hoping for the best,” says Jon Kolb, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, “but preparing for […]